Why Litecoin (LTC) Could Be Facebook’s Chosen Cryptocurrency.
Facebook founder and CEO, Mark Zuckerberg a few days ago announced his plans for the year included studying cryptocurrency and exploring how it can be utilized on social media platform, Facebook.
In a published post, Zuckerberg outlined his personal goal for the year (2018), with the primary goal being to fix the controversial problems within the social media platform.
To achieve this goal, Zuckerberg has outlined two critical areas of technology he plans on researching and implementing in 2018, i.e., cryptocurrency and encryption. These two critical areas of technology lead to decentralized power, which Zuckerberg considers a positive direction for Facebook.
Now, Zuckerberg was vague in his plans regarding cryptocurrencies, not mentioning if he plans on integrating Bitcoin as a payment option or going with another altcoin, or building Facebook’s token from scratch.
However, his statement has done enough to get tongues wagging in the cryptocurrency community. The news of one of the world’s most powerful companies looking to integrate cryptocurrency payment into its platform is a massive deal.
Zuckerberg’s interest in cryptocurrency does not represent a first in Facebook’s interest in digital currencies. Back in December, David Marcus, Facebook Messenger boss (and a former president of PayPal until 2014 when he joined Facebook) joined the board of directors of cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase.
Of course, all these developments point to the fact that Facebook and a particular cryptocurrency is going to be blowing up 2018 with both Facebook and Messenger set to integrating crypto pay on the platform.
Back in 2015, Facebook messenger unveiled a new payment feature that allows users connect their MasterCard or Visa debit cards into the platform and send money to friends and family on Android, iOS, and desktop with zero fees. Three years on and it is not inconceivable that cryptocurrency pay would be integrated into the platform in a similar fashion.
Coinbase also happens to be Charlie Lee’s former employer. Mr. Lee is the former director of Engineering in Coinbase and on top of that Litecoin is one of the ONLY 4 currencies that you can actually trade on coinbase (Excluding fiat currency).
Exploring the Theory
With Zuckerberg’s announcement comes the question: Which cryptocurrency is going to be adopted by Facebook?
That is the billion-dollar question!
Facebook might well decide to build its token from scratch, but it is much more plausible to take over an existing digital currency, and I think that coin might just be Litecoin (LTC).
Litecoin (LTC) is one of the world most popular digital currency alongside Bitcoin (BTC) and altcoins such as Ethereum (ETH), Bitcoin Cash (BCC) and Ripple (XRP).
LTC is a Blockchain-based, peer-to-peer cryptocurrency that works similarly to Bitcoin and Ethereum, allowing instant, almost-zero cost payments to any individual in the world. Litecoin is a decentralized payment network not managed by any central authority, with its network secured by mathematics just like other Blockchains.
Individuals can take control over their finances without being reliant on third parties such as banks or traditional financial institutions. Litecoin represents a fast, secure, reliable and adoptable ready-made payment method for a company like Facebook to integrate into their platform.
Of course, there are other coins such as IOTA, Ripple or even Bitcoin. They, however, have Blockchain issues that Facebook would want to avoid, i.e., Bitcoin (BTC) cannot handle transactions fast enough or plenty enough per second, just to mention one.
Recent events also point to Litecoin being primed for a Facebook adoption.
In December (2017), news broke that Charlie Lee (Litecoin’s developer and founder) had sold (or donated) all his liquid Litecoin holdings. This sparked a big dump of LTC in the cryptocurrency markets and causing the coin’s value to experience a nosedive in its value.
This happened in the wake of cryptocurrency exchange platform, Coinbase adding Bitcoin cash to its collection of coins available for trade, sending shockwaves through the crypto markets.
Many questioned, Lee’s motive for relinquishing his LTC holdings, with many claiming he did so for personal benefits, i.e., dumping when the coin was high.
Lee, however, moved to debunk such claims, he is quoted as saying “we have not taken off yet,” via a tweet in response to an allegation of bailing when the coin was high.
An outspoken person, Lee also reiterated this stance via a post on Reddit, explaining that he believed his ownership stake was a burden on the coin’s development as a global medium of exchange. Being a person of influence and being outspoken, Lee believes it is a conflict of interest to hold LTC while speaking about its development via social media platforms.
But is there more to it? Is there more to Lee dumping his LTC holdings? I believe there is!
It is believed that Lee was exclusively requested to drop his LTC holdings by the social media giants, so he cannot be faced with accusations of chasing personal interests as well as decision bias when it comes to the development of the Litecoin ecosystem.
It is rumored that Facebook is making preparations for the massive announcement that is set to send Litecoin’s value sky high, i.e., announcing the introduction of the support for LTC as a payment channel on the social media platform.
Charlie Lee dumping his Litecoin coins clears up a truckload of conflict of interest situations. Being an outspoken and respected member of the cryptocurrency community, Lee’s quotes tend to carry weight and affect the cryptocurrency market, and now that he is free of his LTC holdings, he can tweet and post anything Charlie Lee wants and partner with whoever he wants.
My bets are on Charlie Lee partnering with Facebook.
Litecoin boasts the added payment processing layer on its Blockchain that facilitates point-of-sale convenience without compromising proof-of-work security, making it a perfect coin to adopt as a payment channel on Facebook.
Conclusion
Litecoin is currently at a crossroad, having stagnated a bit since it’s aggressive climb from $100 to $370 (now at $250).
2018 is however set to be the year the Litecoin zooms off. In a case whereby Facebook goes ahead and announces the adoption of Litecoin as a payment option on its platform, the effect on the coin’s value will be mind-blowing!
However, if this doesn’t happen, Litecoin still has the massive potential of mooning this year. Recently, OpenBazaar added Litecoin as another payment option.
Litecoin is bullishly predicted to hit a market price of $5,000 by LTC enthusiasts discussing the coin on bitcointalk.org. (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=2574310.0) With more investors being attracted in the United States and Asian markets its hard to predict the future.
Either way, Facebook adoption or not, LTC is set to moon aggressively this year.
If you are looking to invest and “HODL” onto a coin in 2018, I will pitch my tent with Litecoin.
Follow me on twitter: @buge44
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